Cape Town gets 2 new neighbourhood names

The first phase of the Name Your Hood initiative came to a close on Monday, 8th August, with the democratic selection of 2 new hood names. Little Camissa and The Loop are now set to join the likes of Bokaap, Tamboerskloof and De Waterkant as names given to Cape Town’s unique vibrant city bowl neighbourhoods.

The Name Your Hood project is aimed at finding new and original names for the hoods that we navigate on a daily basis in Cape Town through an inclusive process that asks us the residents to participate in the naming process.

The first hood, ‘Little Camissa’, submitted by Rouen Smit, is the name that received the most votes for the area bordered by Kloof Nek Road, Camp Street, Molteno Road and Belluvue St. The spine of this area is upper Kloof Street. An eclectic mix of vintage and modern, the Kloof Street ‘hood’ has its own eccentric personality: a laid-back air fusing old-world charm and urban-cool.

Mr Smit explained his motivation for the name, saying: “The area is just a small part of where many Camissa fountains from Cape Town burst into the open – providing clean water. So it’s just ‘Little Camissa’ – Little Place of Sweet Waters.” Pretty cool name, I think….It’s very little Italy, capiche?

‘The Loop’, meanwhile, was the name given to the neighbourhood between Buitengracht and Loop, Strand and Buitensingel St. This particular community is abuzz with creative energy even though the resident traders of yesteryear have all but disappeared leaving only their historic storefronts behind. The winning name was submitted by Celeste Van Dijk and she says her motivation for the name included several reasons, including the fact that “the boundary streets form a loop and Bree Street was made wider to allow wagons to make U-turns or “loop” around. “Loop” is the Afrikaans word for walk and this hood is made for walkin’!”

Valuable support has been offered by key stakeholders such as Cape Town Tourism, Cape Town Partnership, Accelerate Cape Town and Wesgro, which will see the names established and set to endure. Local businesses are also showing their support, with Pam Golding Properties, Mr Delivery, Groupon and Vida e Café, as well as other smaller neighbourhood establishments (including MyCityByNight) all on board. On completion of the naming process and in partnership with Cape Town Tourism and Creative Cape Town, the project will see new tourist maps printed and distributed throughout the City to include the new neighbourhood names.

Bruce Good, MD of Name Your Hood, is delighted with the names. “We couldn’t have hoped for better, more original and relevant names for the first two neighbourhoods. We hoped that through the naming project the colourful history of Cape Town would be recognised and what better name than ‘Little Camissa’. The Camissa river is the reason behind human settlement of the Cape Town “City Bowl” and was the lifeblood of the area. We also love that ‘The Loop’ signifies the reason behind the width of Bree Street. The public response has been superb.”

Keep an eye out for our own little Name Your Hood promo feature coming up soon (don’t worry, we’ll let you know how to get involved). The Name Your Hood project aims to roll out across the entire city over time. Two new neighbourhoods are now open for submissions. Submissions can be made online or through a number of voting booths which will be available in participating shops throughout the city. So visit www.nameyourhood.co.za and make sure you submit your uniquely Capetonian neighbourhood name.

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